The Heart of a New Woman Revealed
By Toni Evola
I am a transgendered woman, and while the process of coming out in that respect to family, friends, and co-workers was difficult to say the least; I must admit that coming out as a Lesbian has presented an even greater challenge still.
As a transgendered woman who is Lesbian identified, I find my struggle to emerge among my Sisters, the womyn of my community, exciting yet not without the expense of considerable effort. First, I struggle to be accepted as a woman who has experienced the same prejudices and discrimination that have oppressed genetic women for centuries. Second, I fight to overcome, to shed the body that masks the woman I truly am. My body presents itself as a reflection before me in the mirror, a wall, a constant reminder of the barrier that serves to separate me from the possibility of an intimacy that can only be found to exist between two womyn who care for and love each other deeply. Finally, I run to join the womyn who have forged the paths before me, the corridors lined with the footprints of countless womyn, pioneers, who have laid the freedom track to carry us to liberation. I chase Herstory, to which I wish to lend my hand, my ability, my resources, and my life. Only when I have accomplished these things will I find the peace and happiness my heart yearns for and the desired peace that may only be revealed to those who have the courage to live their lives honestly, courageously, and proudly.
Yes, I am a woman who was born a male, but was never a man. I am a woman, proud and unashamed. I am a woman, strong, resilient, and determined to earn a place beside my Sisters. I am a woman, resolved to continue my search for a life partner who can accept the skeletons of my past and embrace the entirety of the woman I am. I seek a lover, a confidant, a friend, an equal, who will take my hand and walk with me as I cross the bridge that lies only steps ahead; a woman who will lovingly take me into her arms when we reach the other side and I emerge from my Chrysalis, whole and complete, as the woman I have fought so hard to become.
I am a woman, I am a Lesbian, not more and no less!
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